No More Chemo

At 9 AM this morning, William received his final dose of chemo as part of his 9th round. Hooray!!! Tuesday through Saturday he received Busulfan and today he received Melphalan. Today's infusion lasted 1 hour. One of the uncomfortable side effects associated with this drug is the dreaded and very unpleasant mouth sores. In an effort to keep the blood vessels in his mouth constricted during the infusion, thus lessening the ability of the chemo to penetrate the soft tissue of the mouth, and reduce the severity of the mouth sores, he was on a strict diet of cold things before, during, and after the chemo. Popsicles, popsicles, popsicles!!! He ate seven back to back. Oh, and have I mentioned that we've been encouraging 1-2 (or more) full size Snickers a day to help boost his weight? Quite the dieting going on here. Thank you, Costco.

He's been doing quite well this week, but the chemo is catching up with him. His appetite is decreasing and so is his weight. He's lost 2-3 lbs. already. Ryan and I keep reminding ourselves that we knew this was part of the process. The doctors told us he would be on I.V. nutrition for a period of time---not maybe, but definitely. So we'll keep ordering food and offering encouragement.

Ryan replaced me at the hospital on Friday to provide some fresh entertainment over the weekend. The boys were happy so see me, but perhaps more disappointed to see cousin Eliza go home. It's amazing how the novelty of a little girl in our house keeps those boys entertained. I'm bracing for those teenage years! Thanks, Mary, for holding down the fort and thanks, Erik, for letting your wife and daughter place house at our house! It's really good to be with the boys and hide from the world in the security and freedom of our home. We've eaten a lot of popcorn and enjoyed being together.

I'll likely head back to San Francisco late tonight so Ryan and I can be together with William during the transplant. Transplant is Monday at 11AM. As I understand it, it's quite underwhelming. It's an infusion. No alarms, no firecrackers, no anxious gasps for breath. A small bag of pinkish fluid simply passes through a tube into his chest over about 30 minutes. It occurs in his room and we will be with him, but a nurse will be stationed at his bedside for a period of time closely monitoring things. More on that tomorrow. (You know, after I'm an expert!)

We continue to take one day at a time and want to express enormous buckets of gratitude to all of you that continue to support us in so many ways. We feel your prayers. We physically feel your prayers.